The Wake

The Progressive Student Action Coalition comprises of many campus chapters, including Jewish Progressive Students, The Young Voter Project and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, joined forces to hold Progressive Student Action Day on Monday, October 11 at Coffman Union. The event helped students become more involved in the political process by registering them to vote. Progressive Student Action Day was the result of student groups concentrating their efforts to get out the vote and make students aware of progressive causes that each student group advocates.

“It has worked out really well. We just decided to work together on this and we have shared responsibilities,” says Sarah Kramer, a member of Jewish Progressive Students and one of the chief organizers of this event.

Student group members and volunteers spent the beginning of the day working as part of a “voter mob” talking to fellow students who are potential voters and encouraging them to register in this election year.

Though she wants Progressive Student Action Day to educate students on voting and importance of being politically active, Kramer has no problem in the event being seen as partisan.

“My goal is for this to be unforgivably pro-Kerry,” she says. “Much of the talk for Jewish voters has been that Bush is pro-Israel, but so will Kerry and I think that Kerry will have a much more peaceful approach toward the Middle East.”

With help from the Democratic National Committee they were able to present the Democratic Gain’s Voter Rights Presentation with Minnesota Senator Ellen Anderson, Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, and Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, among others.

“This is the first event like this for us,” says Jason Holstein, president of the University of Minnesota chapter of NORML. “There’s been a big push on campus recently to get students more involved in this election.”

Holstein said that he hopes that Progressive Student Action Day will put a human face on many of the issues that students may only hear about or see on the inside panels while walking on the Washington Avenue Bridge.

Live music at the Voter Guide Release Party hosted by the League of Pissed Off Voters included tunes from Toki Wright of The CORE, Andrew Broder of FOG, The Blend, A Whisper In The Noise and Bobby Wilson.